“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” 2 Thess. 2:9-15
Devotional Thought For The Day
More and more often people seem puzzled by the apparent “stupidity” of what is often reported as “the majority” opinions of Americans. Ongoing support for the “right” to practice abortion [the violent destruction of human life in the womb], insistence that everyone should have to pay insurance premiums to support this moral abomination, support for homosexual freedom and “rights” to civil unions and gay marriage and insistence that there be no discrimination against homosexuals, the erosion of our right to free speech, to bear arms, and to preach and practice our deeply held religious and moral views, the grotesque national debt, and the deep indebtedness of many people who are now nearing retirement and running out of time to repay – these are but a few of the many things that have changed in our culture, contrary to the wisdom of God’s Word, the Bible, and appear to be embraced by many if not the majority of Americans. It is a rather astonishing descent from biblical morality, what was formerly “common” sense, and into damning and destructive foolishness.
The puzzlement about this derives from an uninformed and unrealistic view of human nature [our devotion to unrighteousness], about demonic activities in the affairs of mankind, and in regard to God’s response to mankind’s rejection of truth and His free gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation in His beloved Son Jesus Christ. Human stupidity is the result of satanic “wicked deception,” which is entrapping and enslaving. When God’s Word and salvation is incorrigibly rejected, God Himself sends “strong delusion” – allows lies, deceptions, wickedness, and ignorance to prevail in a person’s thinking. This explains how otherwise intelligent and capable people have succumbed to self-destructive and socially destructive behaviors and opinions. It is a moral problem, and a spiritual problem – which then wreaks havoc on one’s intellect, and plunges people [and sometimes whole cultures] into destruction.
Christians are then tempted to be “open-minded” about these issues and to follow the majority. We are not arrogant to think that we are smarter than others – so we remain open to the influence of the opinions of others, and so the “deceptions” may infiltrate our thinking and then come into the life of the church. When the church capitulates to such deceptions there is no light left to counteract the darkness of satanic wickedness – and the whole culture capitulates. Those who remain faithful to God’s Word and the moral wisdom and common sense of past generations are then left to wonder how the rest of their fellow citizens and neighbors plummeted so quickly into ignorance and stupidity. We have to look first into the mirror, and then trace the origin of our own compromises back to the source – our own pleasure in unrighteousness and the deceptions of satan.
The antidote – so that we remain faithful to the Savior Jesus Christ and the God of love, and in His wisdom – is to “hold to the traditions that you were taught by us [the prophets and apostles], either by our spoken word or by our letter.” There should be no question that what they spoke was completely consistent with what they wrote in Holy Scripture, the Bible. So while we cannot “listen” to them with our ears, we can surely read and understand what they taught by reading their “letters.” This will mean that we are in conflict with those who embrace satanic deceptions, and that we will sorrow over the consequent delusions that God sends upon the unrepentant and unbelieving. It may even lead to persecution and suffering for the truth, if the majority becomes deluded and legislates punishment for those who adhere to the truth and continue speaking the truth in love. If we leave off speaking, just shut up, there will be no hope for others or for our nation. We cannot do this! So, regardless of what consequences we experience for ministering the truth of God’s Word and the glorious salvation of Jesus Christ, we are called by God to “obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and so we remain faithful and stand firm. May God grant us all this blessedness, though filled with conflict, by His grace and the power of His Spirit.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, You have long observed the deceptions which satan has cast upon mankind, and You battled these deceptions for us in Your earthly ministry. Preserve us through Your Word, given to us through the prophets and apostles of old, in the Bible. Help us, Lord, to remain firm and faithful even in the midst of strong delusions inflicted upon the incorrigibly impenitent unbelievers. Grant us grace to do what is good and right in our time of trial and testing, that we always bear witness to Your love, goodness, and wisdom. Amen.